- Advertisers only pay when expert earned
stories are read or shared

SAN FRANCISCO, May 8, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Research
continues to show that the most trusted source for information
about brands and products is "earned" media (e.g. the
recommendations of others, or word-of-mouth(1)). Within considered
purchase categories like tech, nothing is more influential than
independent product reviews or storiesfrom trusted third-party
experts(2). Launched today, inPowered Stories (Beta) provide brands a
scalable new way to turn influential earned media into sponsored
ads, to shape brand perception and purchase consideration.

inPowered Stories is the newest beta product to leverage the
inPowered platform from NetShelter Technology Media launched last
December. inPowered Stories enable brands to
promote and amplify an influential existing story or product
review, as a new kind of sponsored ad unit, across NetShelter's
vast network of other influential blogs. Unlike traditional display
ads, inPowered Stories ensure advertisers only pay when consumers
actually read or share a story – not by CPMs (cost per
thousand impressions).

"There's a difference between popularity and authority. Someone
might be 'popular' as judged by online followers, but that doesn't
make them an influential or trusted expert," said Brian Solis, author of The End of
Business as Usual and principal analyst at Altimeter Group.
"For considered purchase categories, brands are looking for
authentic, agile, and meaningful strategies to reach consumers. The
Social Web is powered not by self-promotion, but rather by how
others promote the content they deem valuable. To truly engage
requires the recognition of authorities and the alignment of
contextually relevant content and stories."

"Across the industry, brands are seeking powerful new tools to
shape the purchase decisions of influential consumers, and not
relying solely upon the number of eyeballs an ad reaches online,"
said Peyman Nilforoush, co-founder
and CEO of NetShelter. "We all see this dynamic reflected in
brands' universal interest in platforms such as Facebook, and it's
a guiding principle behind the creation of our inPowered Stories.
Similar to the way Facebook's Sponsored Stories amplify
friends' opinions about brands, our new inPowered Stories
amplify experts' opinions about brands to influence purchase
decisions."

"inPowered Stories enable brands to put their earned media on
steroids, as the centerpiece of paid media buys," said Pirouz Nilforoush, president and co-founder of
NetShelter. "Brands only pay when people read or share the
sponsored story, and consumers receive authentic and credible ads
they trust."

Tech-related advertising currently represents about a quarter of
all ad dollars spent on the Web(3). inPowered Stories offer brands
a quick and easy way to augment traditional online advertising
campaigns, socially leverage influential articles, support new
product launches, extend buzz in between product launches, launch
pre-emptive ads timed with competitors' product announcements, and
more.

Aligning the Medium and the Message

"People go to Google to search, and they go to Facebook to share
information with friends, and both platforms present advertising
experiences that are consistent with those expectations," continued
Pirouz Nilforoush. "However, people
go to tech blogs and news sites to learn from independent experts.
So, our inPowered Stories directly align with what consumers
want."

inPowered Stories are designed to be placed directly within the
reading flow of the regular stories on a page, as opposed to the
placement of a traditional display ad. inPowered Stories are noted
as "sponsored," and the actual headline and synapsis are pulled
from the original source article (via RSS). When consumers click on
an inPowered Story, they are taken to the original source blog and
article. These promoted stories have been pre-qualified as
influential based on the stories' recent past performance, by
measuring consumption and social amplification across more than 30
social signals (Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Reditt, Google+, blog
comments, and more) via the inPowered platform.

Consumers also are presented an easy "share bar" on the side of
the page, which suggests other promoted stories, and lets consumers
instantly share it via social networks, or take another action to
engage a brand directly. Brands can easily rotate the individual
story that they choose to amplify, and NetShelter works with brands
and agencies to identify and promote articles that are reflective
of the brands objectives.

Early Results

Prior to launching the new beta, NetShelter conducted pilot
studies with two major CE brands to test the preliminary efficacy
of inPowered Stories. According to DoubleClick, the average
click-through rate (CTR) in the U.S. is .09%(4). By
comparison, inPowered Stories in these pilots received active
consumer engagement of average of .59%, or more than 6 times
efficacy when accounting for reads and initial shares.

For advertisers, NetShelter has evolved its business model
beyond being an exclusive vertical network that provides the ad
revenue for its tech bloggers. The combination of its inPowered
platform and its network of influencers provides a powerful
end-to-end platform for brands. NetShelter's network is comprised
of 4,500 professional tech bloggers, including prominent
personalities such as Seth Weintraub
of 9to5Mac.com, Kevin Michaluk of
Crackberry.com, Arnold Kim of
MacRumors.com, Rob Jackson of
Phandroid.com, Jon Rettinger of
TechnoBuffalo.com, Helena Stone of
ChipChick.com, Julio Franco of
Techspot.com, and thousands of others across leading tech blogs.
More information is available at www.NetShelter.com.

About NetShelter Technology Media

NetShelter is the largest "influencer network" of technology
blogs on the Web, with more than 4,500 independent bloggers
reaching 150 million global readers(1). NetShelter's inPowered
platform amplifies content from influential tech blogger's to drive
brand influence in a measurable way. NetShelter is headquartered in
San Francisco with offices in
New York, Chicago, and Toronto. NetShelter Technology Media is backed
by venture funding from Rho Ventures, and the BlackBerry Fund.
Additional information is available at www.NetShelter.com.

(1)Nielsen's Global Trust in Advertising
Survey; (2)Seventy-six percent (76%) of respondents,
across 139 influential tech blogs, said they rely on third-party
experts' reviews and commentary when considering brands for a tech
purchase according to NetShelter Technology Media Influential
Content Survey Research by 3rd Party Crowd Science Inc, 139 sites
participating, N = 3329 completed surveys; (3)Internet Ad
Revenue Report, 2011 First Six Months Results (Telecom and
Computing Products); (4) DoubleClick Benchmarks data
representing a cross-section of countries, January 2010 - December
2010; (5)Ranked by comScore WW figures as largest
Technology Media Property with about 150 million based on
October 2011 figures.

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